黑水溝一詞為臺灣先民渡海來臺重要的險阻代表，但是近來有學者將黑水溝誤解為澎湖水道或是黑潮支流。本文從傳統文獻論述黑水溝乃是位於廈門、澎湖間海域的洋流，接下來闡述黑水溝與黑水洋、落漈、入溜、弱水等傳統海象書寫的關係，並論黑水溝對於横渡臺灣海峽時對航行的影響及危險性。最後討論，黑水溝何時出現於文獻記載上，與其成為渡海危險象徵的脈絡進展。

The term “Black Ditch” (黑水溝) representatively characterizes the danger for Taiwanese Han ancestors crossing the Strait for immigration to Taiwan. Recently, however, some scholars misinterpret the term as the Penghu channel or a Kuroshio (黑潮) tributary . This article discusses in accordance with traditional literature and states that the Black Ditch refers to an ocean current located in the sea between Xiamen (廈門) and Pescadores Islands (澎湖). Further, it describes the relationship between the Black Ditch and the traditional marine writings of Heishuiyang (黑水洋), Luo-Ji (落漈), Ru-rio (入溜) and Ruo-Shui (弱水). This article also discusses the impacts and dangers posed by the Black Ditch for of navigating across the Taiwan Strait; finally, the research shall elaborate when the term Black Ditch appeared in the literature and how it evolved to symbolize the danger of crossing the Taiwan Strait.